Network sharing refers to a network operating mode in which multiple different operators use a same mobile network. Compared with a case in which a conventional mobile network operator (MNO) needs to input huge amounts of money to build and upgrade a network, in this mode, costs input by an operator can be greatly reduced.
The network sharing may be network sharing between operators, or may be network sharing between an operator and a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). The MVNO generally refers to an operator that is not licensed or whose development scale is limited, and therefore needs to use a network of an existing basic MNO to cultivate users of the operator, and provide services to the users. A licensed MNO may also rent a network of another MNO to cultivate users of the licensed MNO and provide services. Such a licensed MNO may also be considered as a MVNO. With enhancement of a network sharing capability, a network of one MNO may serve multiple participant MNO (PMNO) (that is, basic mobile operators or MVNOs). The MNO serving the multiple participant operators, that is, a primary operator, needs to manage and control network resources for each participant operator. For example, the MNO allocates different radio access resources, different maximum user quantities, different maximum bearer/Packet Data Protocol (PDP) resources, and the like to different participant operators in order to ensure that there are sufficient network resources available for all the participant operators that are served by the MNO. In other approaches, a primary operator generally uses a home subscriber server (HSS) to collect statistics about and monitor a total quantity of access users of each participant operator in order to avoid an infringement on interests of the primary operator because a quantity of users of a participant operator that access a network of the operator exceeds a total quantity of subscribed access users.
During research and practice of other approaches, it is found that that in other approaches, when a user equipment executes a detach procedure, even though a mobility management entity (MME) has been detached from the user equipment, the HSS cannot know the detachment. Therefore, in the network, a quantity of actual access users of a participant operator may be less than a quantity of access users of a related participant operator that is obtained through statistics collection by the HSS, affecting accuracy of controlling the quantity of the access users, even affecting normal access of a user, and reducing network performance.